Door hanger and track.



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APPLIOATION FILED MAR.13, 1908.

Patented Mar 16, 1909.

'P. J. SCHULER. DOOR HAN GER AND TRACK. y APPLICATION FILED MAR,1s,19os.

Patented Mar. 16, 1909. l

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

lllrl PlilflER LI. SULEH, OF P'liYliiOUll-l, PENNSYLVANIA.

DOGR HANGER AND TRACK.

No. erases.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented March 16, '1909.

Application filed March i3, 1908. Serial No. 420,861.

To all winmx it may concern.'

Be it known that i, Pair-nn J. Scimmia, a citizen ct' the United States, residingI at Plymouth, in. the county olE Al'iuzernc and State oi lennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful improvements in Door Hangers and "ilracksY oi which the lfellowino; is speciiiCation, reference heine' had to the accompanying` drawings.

lily invention relates to improvements in lumpgers and tracks especially adapted `for railway cars but which may be used upon other structiu'es.

The object oi' the invention. is to provide suspending means tor a car door or the like which will be simple, strong', durable, and c(unparatively inropensive, and which will maintain the door in either its closed or its opened position and prevent it trein yibrating' under the jarring :md motion ol the car.

lilith the above and other objects in view, as will hereinafter appear7 the invention consists oiE the novel features oi" construction and the combination and arrangement of parts hereinaiter fully described and claimed, and illustrated. in the accompanying drawingsI in which-- Figure l. is a 'front elevation o'lE a car door and the improved suspending means) a portion ot the storm plate being removed; Fig. 2 is a horizontal section taken on the plane indicated by the line 2?2 in Fig. l 3 Fig. 3 is a vertical section taken on the plane indicated by the line 3---3 in Fig. l; Fig. Ll is a detail perspective of one of the door hangers; and Fig. 5 is a similar view oi one of the end supporting' brackets for the track.

ln the drawings l denotes a portion of an ordinary box car or structure oi any description, having a door opening Z adapted to be closed by a horizoi'itally sliding;` door 3. The latter has a rectangular body el' wood com posed of substantial boards suitably jointed and braced.

The hangers 6 are adapted to move upon my improved track 7 and while they may be ol any suitable form and constrruztion7 l pre'lerahly make them as shown more clearly in Fig. 5 ol the drawings. Each ot said hangers is right angular in iorm and has a horizontal arm 8 projecting,` inwardly and secured. to one of the upper corners of the door and a vertical arm 9 which is bi'furcated or 'forked to receive the track and an anti- Yfriction roller l() which is suitably journaled and adapted to engage arid run upon the upper edge of the track.

My improved track 7 is sulrrtantially twice as long as the width oiZ the door and it is composed of two similar portions7 cach ol which has oppositely and downwardly extending inclines ll, l2 for the rollers 'l0 to run upon. rThe highest point 13 el each of said similar portions ot the track is at the center ot said portions and the iuclines l l, 1.2 which extend downwardly in opposite directions from the points or crowns lf), terminate in curved seats. The extremities ol the track are curved upwardly to provide stop hooks le, l5 and its central point lo extends upwardly and is hf-shaped. li'or the purpose oi increasingi the strength of the track it preferably nado thickest at the points or crowns i3.

1,7, le, i9 denote brackets arranged upon the outer Atace oi the car for supporting;I the track. The central bracket l is vertically disposed beneath the central portion i6 ol" the track, which portion is secured to it by a substantial bolt or similar liastcniiig 20. The latter, in connection with smaller bolts 2i., serve to effectively secure the bracket 18 to the car. The end brackets i7', 1), as more clearly shown in Fig. 6, are formed with curved recesses or seats 22 to receive the curved or hook shaped ends 14, l5 oi the track, which latter are secured in said recesses by fastenings 23 similar to the Yfastening` 20. Smaller bolts or iastenings 24 are passed through apertured llanges 25 in the brackets l? to secure the latter to the car.

Any suitable means may he proridcd l'or guiding the lower portion of the' door and preventing it from heine' swungl outwardly but l preferably employ the angular stop and guide brackets 26 which are arranged at suitable intervals, as clearly illustrated in Figs. l and 3.

ln operation, it will he seen that owing to the inclines ll, 12 upon the upper edges ol the two similar portions of the track, that the door will always be maintained in either its closed or its open position, since it will move by gravity to its closed position when the rollers l() of the door hangers are upon the inclines ll., and in a similar manner to its open position when said rollers are upon the inclines lf2. The rollers l0 of the two door hangers are the same distance apart as the uppermost points or crowns 13 in the two portions of the track, so that said rollers will at all times be either upon the inclines 11 or the inclines 12, consequently the door cannot stand in a partially opened or closed. position unless it is manually held. or secured by extraneous fastenings. rPhe door will be prevented lroin dropping oil' the track by the stop hooks 141 at the ends of the track. Owing to the double inclined portions of the latter it will be seen that the door cannot run or shift backward and forward when the car is bumped or 4jolted, consequently there wil be little wear on the door and its lite will be prolonged. @wing to the construction of the track and the manner in which it is mounted, it will be seen that it will be strong and durable and will not 'eadily work loose or become damaged. /lvlhen bolts are used for fastening the track and its hangers, they are preferably provided with locked nuts or their ends may be riveted to reduce the liabilityT ol the parts coming loose a .d interferring with the operation of the door. T he peculiar construction of the track also prevents the doei' from being taken oil" or from accidentally coming oli', and consequentlyl from being lost.

Having thus described in v invention what I claim is:

1. The combination of a track having two similar portions, each portion formed with tread surfaces inclined continuously in a downward and outward direction from their central points to their extremities and a door mounted to travel upon said inclined tread surfaces whereby it will be gravity actuated to either its open or closed position from any intermediate position.

2. The combination with a structure having a door opening, and a door for said opening, olE a track for the door secured to the side oll the structure above said opening and having' two similar portions, one portion being disposed opposite the door opening and the other' to one side ol the same, each of saidportions having downwardly and oppositelyr inclined. tread surfaces extending from the central points ol.E said track portions to the extren'iities of the latter, hangers secured to the door adjacent to the corners thereof, rollers mounted upon said hangers to run upon the tread surfaces of said track portions, said rollers being disposed the saine distance` l i l i l l l l l i l l l l l i l i l l i l l l apart as the central or highest points inv the inclined tread surfaces of the similar portions olc the track whereby the door will be gravity actuated to either its closed or its open position lroni any intermediate position.

3. The combination with a structure having a door opening, a door for said opening and suitable hangers tor said. door, of a track bar having two similar portions integrally formed., said hangers beingI arranged and adapted to be mounted on the respective portions of said track, said portions each having the oppositely and downwardly inclined tread surfaces extending' from the central points to the extremities oli said similar track portions, and the integrally formed stop hooks at the lower ends ol'l said inclined tread surfaces, substantially as and vFor the purposes set forth..

4. The combination with a structure vhaving a door opening, a door for said opening and suitable hangers for said door, oi the intermediate bracket 18 and the end brackets 17, 19 secured to the structure, oi a one piece track bar secured at its center to the intermediate bracket and at its ends to said end brackets, said track bar having' two similar portions, each provided with the oppositely and downwardly inclined tread surliaces 11, 12 extending lfrom the central points to the extremities of said similar track portions and the integrally formed stop hooks at tle center and extremities ol5 said track bar, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

5. A one piece track bar .having two similar portions, each portion having tread surfaces inclined continuously in a downward and outward direction Vfrom the central points ot said similar portions to the extremities ol' the latter.

6, A one piece track bar having two similar portions, cach portion having oppositely and 'louf'nwardly inclined tread surfaces extending l'roni the central points of said similar portions to the extremities ot the latter, and integrally formed stop hooks at the center and at the ends of said track bar.

In testimony whereof l. hereunto aliix my signature in the presence of two witnesses. PETER J. SCHULER. illitnesses:

GEORGE FENDING, HUMPHREYS Cnooics. 

